Kia? Niro?

[Oldgreybeard]

Trend for more than a decade.
I despise the nissan juke for instance, ..all started with the padsing of the sj410 types which morphed in the 90's (rav 4)?? & never stopped growing.

Then vauxhall did a shonky monster, (dont see many anymore)
Sure ive said this at st elsewhere, but when an old lifelong local in the 1970's came & talked about our village, he mentioned te "normal" road beside our school as a 1 cart width road, which has always stayed with me re vehicles needs, desires, versus access & manoeuvres, & why tractors, combines trailers need space & sometimes to knock down thoughtless traffic calming bollards to get your combine off the farm.

This gives an idea as to why wide cars are a bit of a nuisance here. This is our lane in the summer (right now it's a lot more overgrown as the hedges haven't been cut at all this year):

Our lane.jpg (72.38 KiB) Viewed 2311 times

[CharlieB]

Used Model S D model for 4x4 on air suspension? Will automatically raise itself every time you get to a location you need clearance once you tell it the first time.

We have one for deepest rural Wales and copes very well with out approach lane!

£1250 of Mitsubishi Pinin for the green lanes and extreme snow (if we ever get any again!)

This aught to make perfect sense, but I'm slightly embarrassed to say this is likely to be a Company (farm) purchase so would need to be a brand new EV. I've always very clearly kept farm vehicle (old landrover defender) completely separate from my personal vehicle, but the accountant tells me I'd be mad not to look at the EV 'tax break'.

[CharlieB]

So I test drove the Niro Electric the other day and was a bit underwhelmed to be honest. (My first time actually driving an EV.) Perfectly good, but nothing very exciting. And I took the opportunity to fill it up with animal feed and the boot isn't huge for the size of car.

I'm test driving a Hyundai Kona electric on Thursday. Seems very similar to the Niro Electric, and I think Hyundai and Kia are actually more or less the same company. Any thoughts?

MG does look good (if a bit big), but the sales place is a nightmare for me to get to so that's not on the list unless I happen to go past.

[dan_b]

I know a couple of people who have owned the Niro and its twin sister the Kona (they're based on an identical platform/chassis/drivetrain/battery system).

They're capable, efficient and completely bland. But they're capable, and efficient.

Other vehicles you might want to consider in a similar price bracket would be the MG5 Estate - which would give you a lot more lugging capability (but also falls squarely into the capable but bland category), or perhaps the new MG4 - which is a 5-door hatch and has got a bit more Va Va Voom about it by all accounts.

[Oldgreybeard]

My only concern with MG is that it is a Chinese government owned company, with zero connection to the old UK company of the same name. SAIC, a Chinese government owned car company, bought the right to use the old MG badge and brand, so every MG car made now is really made by the Chinese government, in effect. Given the level of software integration in modern cars, and given that the Chinese government are known to be less than open about the level of spyware they insert into products produced by state-owned or controlled companies I think I would be a little cautious.

I have a fair bit of Chinese made kit, and generally can't fault it for quality or reliability, but I did discover that my Hikvision CCTV was constantly sending lots of data back to China (fixed by physically disconnecting it from the internet) and that my Sofar inverter was doing exactly the same, via its Solarman WiFi dongle (now binned and replaced with a direct RS485 interface).

Of course, the Chinese government acquiring loads of data from people here may well not concern some at all, but it does make me slightly uncomfortable, as they are far from open about what they use the data they collect for.

[Moxi]

Charlie, I know its more than you wanted to spend but as a company vehicle it offers a lot of what you appear to need for business whilst also being a practical family transport. Over the years I have driven quite a few vans and the T van still comes in tops for general capability and driver experience.

The main spec detail below - note I selected it in white van man mode just in case:

BODYSTYLE - TRANSIT VAN DOUBLE CAB-IN-VAN
MODEL - TREND
MODEL YEAR - 2023.25
ENGINE - FORD 68KWH BATTERY 198KW / 269PS RWD 1-SPEED AUTOMATIC
FUEL TYPE - ELECTRIC
TRANSMISSION - AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
COLOUR - FROZEN WHITE
INTERIOR - EBONY
NUMBER OF SEATS - 7
LOADSPACE LENGTH - 2,488 MM
LOADSPACE HEIGHT - 1,718 MM
LOADSPACE CAPACITY - 7.2 M3
PAYLOAD - 1,074.8 KG‡

£55,535 ex VAT

Moxi

[Djs63]

We have both a Kia e-Niro and an MG5 and they both good. We test drove a Tesla and we were put off by everything (?) being controlled from the central touch screen. The Kia has a bit of that and the MG has more, so having a passenger helps control the heating, radio, screen demist but it does have stalks for lights, indicators, sound level, phone etc..

Both take lots of sacks of animal food and they are as nippy as can be even in Eco mode. Good for us and the environment, of course.

[CharlieB]

Thanks all. Great to have that vote of confidence (the way I read it) in the Nero. I'd definitely prefer buttons to touch screen everything. And capable and efficient is exactly what we're after - bland doesn't matter much. The Auris it's replacing is perhaps the blandest car imaginable.

Moxi, yes it's a Company purchase but it's definitely for family use. (Our accountant assures me there's nothing dodgy or even borderline immoral, though I still feel uncomfortable.) We only have one toddler so transit size van would definitely be ott.

I just test drove the Hyundai Kona and unsurprisingly it felt pretty much the same as the Nero.

OGB, yes I have vague concerns overlapping with yours. Also the dealership is a pain to get to and they were even more unpleasant to deal with than the Hyundai and Kia dealers so I've taken that one off the list.

Only other one I'm vaguely tempted to look at is the new skoda one. Enyaq. Though I'm fairly sure I'll think it is too big and tank like. (I do like my yeti a lot. - straightforward practical car.)

[Moxi]

CharlieB,

Your accountant is correct and you need not feel guilty as you will be taxed via the P11D form for benefit in kind, its the governments choice to incentivise you by offering a very low rate of taxation.

You're a few small people behind me, I have three under fives and four over twenties , we like the look of the transit crew cab and when our trusty RAV4 gets too old and is retired that may become the work horse for the family - we have three dogs here plus two with the grand parents next door so a big transport is often required for various tasks.

In the mean time I opted for the EV6 as the first foray into BEV driving as it seems to have a good enough range for what we require and the back seat was long enough for three children's booster seats of various varieties and widths, I've even ordered it with a tow bar as I am an optimist

Moxi

[dan_b]

Funnily enough my sister-in-law's family bought one just 2 weeks ago! They'd gone into the dealership with the idea of getting a Hybrid, but ended up walking out with the full EV demonstrator as they liked it so much. They have a famiily of 5 and its their only car.

Getting an EV as a company vehicle is how I ended up with my Tesla Model 3. That 1% BIK is an enormous tax benefit.

The Enyaq is a huge vehicle - it's basically an iD4 with a moustache grille. And ultimately has the same MEB software problems as its VW cousins.
Enjoy the Niro!